My Fear and Reason
by Trust None
Summary: A background story of why the main character is protective and understanding of her teammates. One-Shot and I made the main character a female. Slight main character and Youske romance. P4


Panic she slowly swallowed as she could clearly see his defined shadow through the glass. Why was he here? How was he here? The only thing she knew was that she had to get higher up, he wouldn't be allowed any higher in a school. Fear fueled her speed and was on the roof in a matter of seconds. Shaking as she dialed her uncle's number, she hid herself on the other side of a roof divider.

"I wonder why Kyoko was called by the headmaster?"

"I hope it wasn't anything to do with her cousin…"

"Kanji! No need to jinx it!"

"Sorry."

"Wait do you hear something?"

Sure enough, the faint sound of sirens rapidly got louder as they approached the school. The group looked in panic, but there hadn't been anything since Adachi was behind bars. So why would the police come here? The speaker came on with the voice of a teacher, telling the students to stay in their classrooms. Obviously this group would not comply with that wish.

She crouched down with her knees in her face, and hands holding her head. Never had she been more afraid in her life once she saw that shadow again. Even after her uncle said he would come right away, her body still shook with nerves. So much that she jumped when a friend called her name, "Kyoko?"

At first she stayed quiet, hoping they would leave. But she began to recognize their voices and stood up from her hiding place, "I am here."

"Why are you-Are you ok?" Chie asked for she saw the tear stains over her pale cheeks.

Quickly Kyoko wiped them away, and then realized what they would fear the most. "Nanako is fine, there's another reason…" She bit her lip shut before she would blurt it out.

"I've never seen you so…tense. What's going on senpai?" Naoto calmly asked while looking back to see a man being pulled way from the school. Kyoko followed her gaze and the faint screams that followed proved what happened. Finally she breathed out the breath she was holding.

"Senpai did you call the cops?"

Kyoko nodded quietly as she sat down on the divider, "If you guys have the time, come over tonight and I'll explain. Bring Teddie too."

They agreed silently for they knew she was serious over this matter.

"You'll be ok tonight Kyoko?"

"Yes Dojima, Naoto and Kanji are already here. The others are coming shortly."

"Alright. You know the rules-"

"The girls will sleep in my room, guys downstairs."

"Good, good. I probably won't be back until tomorrow, so be careful."

"Will do."

Quietly she ended the phone call and slid the door to inside back open. She was in the backyard talking to her uncle, despite today's scare she felt completely safe in this house. Naoto and Kanji watched her return as she crossed the floor to the fridge. "What do you think we should make for dinner?"

"Well the others are bringing food from Junes. Should we wait?"

"True. But it's best to have options."

On cue, the doorbell rang and Kyoko went with Kanji to the door. Breathing calmly she opened the door to let in Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Rise, and Teddie. As Yosuke piled four bags of food on the table, Kyoko glared at the three girls, "You did it again."

"Hey he offered."

"Plus we were carrying our bags."

Sighing in defeat, Kyoko began to look at the food in the bags. They mostly were premade bentos, but she could clearly tell which were the items Yosuke bought for it was food. A pound of ground beef, some instant curry, rice, and peppers were in one bag. She looked back in the fridge and pulled out two eggs and rested them on a towel, "I take it you want curry Yosuke?"

He scratched his head, "Well we've only had your omelets and I don't feel like another helping of Mystery Food X."

She smiled at the trio's glares and pulled out a frying pan, "Alright, Kanji and Yosuke will help me. The rest of you could you move the bags out of the doorway? Also, don't forget to wash your hands, all of us."

"That was good!"

"It wasn't too spicy for curry, not bad senpai."

"Well the meat took in the spice to even it out."

"It needed more meat if you ask me."

"No one asked!"

"Still Kyoko you have to teach me the recipe."

"Will do."

Then Naoto coughed into her hand, "Back to the main subject." Kyoko caught her curiosity and urgency. Nodding quietly she stood up, "Can you wash the dishes while I prepare?"

"Prepare?"

"…I'm still not certain how to approach this subject with you guys."

"Ok we'll give you space."

After a few minutes when the dishes were cleaned, Kyoko reappeared in a different outfit than her school uniform. She now wore a white button up blouse with a black sleeveless turtleneck and dark jeans. Sighing, she gathered her courage and sat down with them. "The man at school…was my "father", Mr. Souji."

"What?"

"Your dad?"

"I said was…"

"What happened that-?"

"I found out that my mother had me with another man while she was married to Mr. Souji. So I can't really call him father, now can I?"

Yukiko bit her lip, punishing herself. Chie then took up the questioning, "So your not technically a Souji?"

"No, Mr. Souji took me in under court order. But…" She looked down at her hands in her lap. Then back up to her expectant friends, "It's only fair you see the shadow of me too. I've see everyone's best and worst qualities, you've only seen the good in me, and I hoped I wouldn't have to tell…No "show" you my darker side."

Each of them probably wondered by what she meant, but she calmly stood up and proceed to take off her blouse. As she casually threw it on the couch behind her, Teddie pointed out, "Scars!"

"Yeah, their faint now but…"

She then turned around to pull off her turtleneck. At first the guys covered their eyes, but then the girls gave them the ok to open them. Kyoko wore a black tank top and sat down to explain. Moving her left shoulder into the light, they could all see a burn mark on her shoulder, "That was from a cigarette, two I think."

"Wha-!"

She then continued by moving her right arm up to them, it was beaten and scarred multiple times, "These were from my arm being broken and hit on while in a cast."

"THE HELL-!"

She tilted her neck to show a faint line around it, "From a knife to my throat."

When they didn't react, she calmly continued by turning around and telling Rise to pull down her tank a little. Clear burn marks and scars decorated her back, "From a burning piece of wood and being pushed down the stairs."

She then stood and rested her foot on the couch to pull up the jean on her left leg. It was scarred with a mark around her knee, "From my broken leg."

Then she pulled up her right to show a scar starting from her knee down to her ankle, "From a broken beer bottle."

Kyoko paused to pull her jeans back down and to pick up her blouse to rest over her shoulders. Then she sat down on the couch and calmly looked at them, "That answer your questions about Mr. Souji?"

Now Yosuke snapped, "Hold the phone! HE did those to you!" She nodded quietly and let him rant. "Why the HELL would he hit you! It doesn't make any freaking sense!"

Naoto then tested her theory, "Because of your mother?"

Kyoko sighed, "Possibly, that or he just thought hitting my step mother was enough…"

"He HIT Dojima-san's-!"

"Yes, he started with her at first, but then me when I was older."

"Why the hell didn't you leave!"

"I was 15 when we finally had the chance to leave. A cousin died last year, the same one that I went to visit in Port Island. That night, Mr. Souji didn't come back at the exact time that he said he would. We took that moment and ran to the cops."

They looked at her in disbelief, "Why didn't you leave before?"

"Obviously we couldn't. He was careful about that, not allowing cells or phones in our home. Not even a TV or computer. And I was home schooled while my stepmother stayed with me to teach. Plus, he locked us inside…"

Now they stared at her in shock, their leader, their Kyoko, was raised like that! Teddie was the first to hug her, "Sensei! Why didn't you tell us sooner? We-"

"What? Spoke effortless pity? I didn't want that for my first friends…"

"But all this time, while you saw us…"

"I kind of put it in my mind that your pain was worse. Just took a breath and said to myself 'I can help them, I understand.'"

Chie then stood up with fury, "Now I just want to kill this bastard!"

Kyoko for some reason started to laugh, causing them to watch her in complete confusion. After a minute she stopped, "He's getting life for abuse and fraud. If anything, the people in the jail will kill him."

"Fraud?"

"Yeah he took the money that my mother left for me and used it in his name. All two million yen."

"TWO MILLION!"

"My mother put in all of her savings and sold anything that was hers for that money…She must have known that she wasn't going to make it after I was born."

This time Rise tested a theory, "You sound so monotone…"

"How else should I act? The man that beat me and Dojima's sister, why should I waste any form of emotion over him?"

Yosuke was fuming, so much that he hit her over the head with his fist. "Stop acting like a fucking robot! You're better then him! Plus you have every right to show emotion over this! You're out! Free! And he's getting his just desserts! Don't punish yourself idiot!"

As the others yelled back at what Yosuke just did, Kyoko's wall finally broke. They could clearly hear her cries as she bent over in an attempt to hide them. At first Yosuke thought he was at fault, but then she spoke out in between gasps, "You're right…you're right…"

Teddie was now resting near her, looking at her, "That's better isn't it? To just let everything out? I read that in a magazine Sensei! Doesn't that seem like the right thing to say right now guys?"

"Yeah but next time don't say the source Ted." Chie retorted as Yukiko passed her a tissue box to give to Kyoko. She didn't even notice it from how much she was crying. By now Yosuke sat next to her and rubbed her head, and Kanji was looking for a glass for some water. Rise kept starring in awe from what she just heard, "So then, were you lying to us with your emotions?"

Quickly Kyoko looked up in time to hiccup before she spoke and wiped some of the tears away. "Never…I was as honest…as I could be…" After she took a drink of water and wiped off the rest of her stained face, Kyoko looked Rise dead in the eye, "It was a rule I gave myself. To try and be normal, so that I could see people for who they are. Yes I didn't tell you anything about this, but for the most part I was honest."

By now it was nearly midnight and nearly everyone had gone to sleep. Kyoko had snuck away downstairs and outside in the backyard. She tightened her hold on her robe as the winter chill lightly tapped her frame. The moon was full and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Aside from the chill, it would have been a beautiful night.

A faint meow took her off guard and then turned to her right. A small kitten climbed down from the fence and walked over to her. "Hi Mee-chan." She bent down to pick up the kitten to warm it in her arms. Sitting down on the porch, Kyoko petted the kitten while looking at the stars.

"You ok?"

The sudden voice took her off guard and she jumped while holding the kitten. Sighing she sat back down, "Yosuke don't do that!"

"Sorry. I can't make that much noise…"

She rolled her eyes and petted the kitty to calm herself. He then sat next to her on her right and reached out to the cat. "I didn't know you had a pet."

"She's a stray I've been watching out for, since she wasn't picked in a box."

"Makes sense."

"What?"

"Despite what just happened, your still you. By that I mean the true you that you showed us. A kind, grown up, leader."

Kyoko smiled as the kitty purred as Yosuke petted her. "Honestly, I don't really know who my true self is…you claim that the leader side of me is, but I don't see it that way."

"How so?" He leaned back analyzing her.

"What I see when I look at myself is a child, wearing a different mask each day and changing it in a split second to fit the mood. Like a never ending game of dress-up." She laughed at the last part, "You've seen it yourself."

"Huh?"

"You guy's noticed earlier on that I don't use just one Persona…and recently everyone else's has changed into newer and powerful Personas. Yet I still use different ones, never changing, just the ones I pick."

Yosuke picked up the reasoning behind that quickly and shook his head, "Well you were the first to get this power. Maybe that's why you're late to fine your true self? You know, "Early to bloom, slow to grow"?" He laughed as Kyoko playfully hit his shoulder. He almost did the same, but remembered the scars and lowered his arm. Kyoko's face went sad again, "Please don't give me pity. I know it's impossible, but I'm happiest when everyone just acts like nothing's wrong."

"Nah it's not just that." Yosuke scratched his head again and looked back at the stars before standing up to walk out two steps. "I always figured that you would have more scars then any of us because you're the leader. But after hearing this…it almost makes me want to put you in a metal suit so that you don't break."

"That'd be pointless, how the hell would I move in a battle?"

He laughed but grew serious, "For one thing, it's all over now. Second, we've always been concerned about each other in battle. But what do you do? You go right in the thick of it and beat everything to a pulp just to show us we're ok. That's like some girl's screaming that there's a spider near her and another just comes up and squashes it."

"Yosuke you're talking in riddles…"

He then turned around with a serious look, "That's because-!"

"Sensei? Yosuke?" A groggy voice that belonged to Teddie interrupted Yosuke. Kyoko then turned her attention towards him as Yosuke picked up the kitty and excused himself. His excuse was to get it some food, but it was to get away from Kyoko so that she wouldn't see his red face.

* * *

(I choose the name Kyoko over something like "Sena" because I personally liked the ring of it. If you don't like "Kyoko" just think of your own name to sub into the story. I wanted the main character to have a reason to protect people, that's why I gave them this back story of abuse. Sorry if it doesn't fit. I hope you enjoyed the story)


End file.
